Users pick and choose information that interests them. Philips Interactive, for example, has dozens of titles, among them a tour of the Smithsonian, in which the viewer selects which corridor to enter by clicking on the screen. Other titles: Jazz Glants, a musical history, and Escape from CyberCity, an animated adventure game.
使用者可以从中任意选取自己感兴趣的信息。例如,菲利浦相互作用公司制作的几十种多媒体光盘中有一种光盘的内容是史密斯博物馆导游,观看者可通过屏幕操作选择要游览的陈列室。其他多媒体光盘有爵士乐大师和逃出塞北城等。爵士乐大师是音乐史剧,逃出塞北城是惊险动画游戏片。
Many investors are betting on entertainment as the most lucrative interactive market. But some industry observers predict the development of two parallel home markets, one catering to leisure activities and the other to businesses. Hawkins says the work-at-home market could be computer based and provide an outlet for teleconferencing and portable computing devices, like the Newton touted by Apple chairman John Soulley that can be carried in a pocket and runs on handwritten commands scribbled on a small screen. The entertainment market, primarily games and movies, would be centered on some kind of monitor.
许多投资者认定娱乐团是相互作用产品的最有利可图的市场,但一些研究工业发展动态的专家则预言相互作用产品将向两个平行方向发展,一为娱乐用品,一为办公用品。霍金斯认为,办公用品将以电脑为主,也包括电话会议设备和便携式计算器具,如苹果电脑公司总裁约翰o斯考莱极力称颂的牛顿便携机,它可以装入口袋中,可根据小屏幕上的手写指令运行。而主要是游戏和电影的娱乐产品则以某种监视器为主。
If all this comes to pass-still a very big if-the next step could be what Digital Media's Caruso calls complete viewer control. She says consumers would be a little like information cowboys, rounding up data from computer-based archives and information services. There will be thousands of channels delivered, Caruso thinks, through some combination of cable, telephone, satellite and cellular networks . To prevent getting trampled by a stampede of data, viewer s will rely on programmed electronic selectors that could go out into the info corral and rope in the subjects the viewer wants.
假如这些都能变成现实--这还是个很大的未知数--下一步的目标可能就是《数字媒介》杂志编辑卡鲁索所谓的完全观众控制。她说,消费者将会有点像是信息牛仔,因为他们像牛仔赶牛一样从电脑档案和信息网络中收集信息。卡鲁索认为,到那时信息传播是多途径的,电缆、电话、卫星和蜂窝电话网结合使用。为避免被泛滥成灾的巨量信息弄得晕头转向,消费者必须使用电子信息选择器来从大量信息中提取自己所需的内容。